Rowan Engineering Students address climate change and sustainability through an AIChE-UEF funded project

Matthew Conway, Jared Longo, Ethan Shumaker, Ethan Blanda, John Pazik, Emmanuel Aboagye and Austin Lehr from Rowan Engineering have been selected by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) for their Sustainable Energy Corps (SEC) Student Projects that are financially supported by the United Engineering Foundation (UEF) ($11,875). They are being mentored by Dr. Robert Hesketh and Dr. Kirti Yenkie, faculty in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Rowan University.

Their project aims at addressing the issues of Climate Change and Sustainability via incorporating modern tools and techniques such as data-driven process analytics, machine learning, computational modeling, and life cycle assessment. Novel machine learning (ML) approaches for the estimation of life cycle inventories, environmental emissions, and physiochemical and operating parameters for low-energy consuming separation technologies will assist in the evaluation of alternative and safer chemicals during early stages of process design. This method will allow the plant design engineers and regulatory authorities to save time and money by quickly assessing which alternative new chemicals are suitable for substitution as well as sustainable over their life cycle.

Photo above from left to right: Dr. Kirti Yenkie, Jared Longo (ME), Ethan Blanda (ChE), John Pazik (ChE), Emmanuel Aboagye (ChE), Austin Lehr (ChE), Matt Conway (ChE), Dr. Robert Hesketh